21st May 2020 - All done for another year ...

Half expected an empty nestbox this morning, but no, 'squirt' is still in residence !! Well, he has got the place to himself, and gets regular meals delivered, what's not to like !!

No ground activity from the parents, so we can assume that all three of yesterday's fledglings made it up into the trees.

There was frantic activity inside and outside the nestbox at about 10:30, where mom could be seen flying in, flying out, sitting on top of the box and hole feeding, trying to entice the last youngster out .. but all to no avail, he was staying put a while longer !!

Then at around 15:30Hrs, it looked like mom's plan had worked, and 'Squirt' was ready to join his siblings in the big wide world ..

It looked like 'all systems go', he was hearing his parents' call and practically fell out of the box, and then all of a sudden, a danger call from his parents and he was gone back inside !!

Finally at around 17:30Hrs, he must have started to feel hungry, both mom and dad were coming up to the hole and teasing him with morsels of food, but only if he came out to get them !! And at 17:42, he did !!

He did fare somewhat better than his siblings on his first flight. His siblings all turned right and encountered the fence! However, 'squirt' ventured left, and managed to land on next door's garage roof, and from there, easily made it up into the nearest tree!

So that's it for another season ... Four fledged chicks is no mean feat, so well done to the industrious, attentive and doting parents ..

God willing, I shall do it all again next year (with a new camera, woohoo !!). Hope you've enjoyed this little look into the life of the blue tit family.

Hope you all have a good summer (in the circumstances!) ... So long, till next year ..

20th May 2020 - Fledging Day !!

Well here we are then , a really busy day for our Blue Tit family .. It all started early morning when I noticed a couple of the chicks peering out ...

They had a good old look around at the brave new world outside their home for the past 21 days, thought better of it, and huddled down again in their cramped little space !!

A few stills here of Mom & Dad trying to entice them out, Mom feeding at the hole, and Dad teasing with a juicy caterpillar!!

  

It has been a really hot day, and all went quiet for a short while ... Then at 15:45 Hrs things started to liven up !! All of a sudden, there seemed to be heightening of the blue tit chatter ..

It really did look like the first chick was about to take the plunge, encouraged by his parents, but again thought better of it !!

However, after summoning up enough dutch courage, and after a couple of false starts, at 15:59Hrs, chick number 1, valiantly launched himself into this brave new world ... However, he couldn't quite overcome the fence and make it to the nearest tree, so settled for the undergrowth, waiting for Mom to come and find him ..

Another lull followed ... Then at 18:18Hrs, chick no. 2 decided he'd had enough of life inside the nestbox and ventured out, swiftly followed by chick no.3 at 18:25Hrs .. I didn't catch the moment the last two left, but as neither of these two made it to the nearest tree either, I have quite a few stills of them trying to find some cover and shelter ..

As far as I can see the parents have spotted them all are are feeding them, two have definitely made it up into the tree, not sure about the the third one, but I suspect he too has made it up into the safety of the branches, as the parent activity at ground level has decreased markedly.

So we just have 'little squirt' left, with the nestbox and feeds all to himself! I'm sure he will be persuaded to leave tomorrow .. 

Busy old day !! ...

19th May 2020 ...

A few stills of the parents :

Is this to be their last breakfast, before venturing out? They look nearly ready !!

.. even more so at supper time, it sure is looking cramped in there. Mom give them the once over, and lining them up nicely for bed, one corner each !!

18th May 2020 ...

Here we see both parents bringing in some nice juicy spiders for breakfast! However, Mr 'Greedy Top Dog', snaffles them both !!

It is quite amazing to see how quickly they grow literally day by day ! Just looking at this video, and judging by the amount of wing flapping and preening taking place, I think we could actually see the bigger two fledge within days ..

It is getting very crowded in there now, but little 'Squirt' seems to be holding his own ! Hopefully he will get a bigger share of the food, once the bigger two vacate the nest ...

17th May 2020 ...

We see here what a great 'tag' team the parents make, as they both continue to bring food in ..

Here we see Mom bringing food in and having a good old tidy up !!

16th May 2020 ...

We can see here how both parents are sharing the feeding duties, as they bring afternoon tea !!

What they have both achieved is made all the more remarkable, as they are constantly facing  jeopardy from a couple of nuisance neighbouring cats, and a pair of magpies, who also have a nest nearby!! They seem to be a canny pair, and have avoided any disasters so far, long may it continue. 

Fast Forward to 15th May 2020 ...

As I said at the beginning of this blog, I have been having some issues with the nestbox camera, and consequently have missed a chunk of the chicks early development.

You may remember that 10 chicks hatched on the 1st May 2020 .. However, as of today (15th May), only 4 of the 10 remain. 

There is some good news though! ... Both parents are still around, and are being very industrious and attentive. Also, the remaining 4 chicks (as you will see..), look pretty well fed and robust, so fingers crossed that they may make it all the way !!

I can only speculate as to what happened to the other 6 chicks, maybe there isn't the plentiful supply of grubs and caterpillars, as previous years? Maybe the nestbox got too hot with the spring sunshine we have had? Still, it may prove to be a blessing in disguise, as the parents have been able to concentrate on the remaining four. Fledging 4 chicks from the brood is seen as a good return, so let's see if they can make it ... 

Here we can see Mom with her 4 chicks ...

Here we can see the scramble for the last feed of the day !! You can clearly see that a couple of the chicks are more dominant than the other two, however, the less dominant pair do not  appear to be particularly under nourished ..